Coach Justin Wilcox said the staff made the decision that the combination of Garbers and McIlwain, who both provide running threats, was the best course of action against a BYU defense that is stout against the run.
He said this was no knock on 2017 starter Ross Bowers, who watched the entire game from the sidelines, wearing a baseball cap and head phones. But Garbers and McIlwain, he said, simply were a better fit for this assignment.
“I’m proud of how they competed. This is a really good run defense and when you can create the element of the quarterback being a threat to run the ball, it stresses defenses.